No plans to move Eagle Farm meetings

The BRC has denied it has any plans to move the remaining two meetings of the Brisbane winter carnival

Image: Darren Winningham

The Brisbane Race Club has denied it has any plans to move the remaining two meetings of the Brisbane winter carnival after the Eagle Farm track again chopped up.

Jockeys were divided in their opinions of Saturday’s track although all agreed it played like a heavy surface even though there had been no rain for more than a week.

After the first race Kerrin McEvoy said it was the worst track he had ridden on but another experienced rider, Corey Brown, said it was playing better than it looked.

But he said he had never ridden on a surface with the same feeling about it, but it was safe.

A spokesman for the Brisbane Race Club, Michael Crutcher, said the club knew nothing of reports there would be a meeting after the last race to decide whether to move next week’s Queensland Oaks meeting to Doomben.

“At this time there is no such plan. We are not considering moving any race meeting at this time. The jockeys say the track is safe and that is the main thing,” Crutcher said.

“The betting has been strong again and to move either the Oaks or the Derby would cost the industry and the club a lot of money.”

Doomben is smaller than Eagle Farm and could not handle the pre-sales in corporate packages and other functions.

Course manager Sean Bridges approached stewards during the afternoon for permission to roll the track.

“But the stewards have denied my request. We will be rolling the track next week and letting everyone know,” he said.